Tokyo Disney Is Reportedly Getting a $2.7 Billion Expansion

Lisa Du, Bloomberg

- Nov 30, 2017 12:10 pm

Skift Take

Tokyo Disney Resort is already a popular piece of the Disney empire, and spending billions to add attractions and make improvements will only help drive more attendance and spending. Castles need a little polish every now and then.

Shares of the company surged as much as 4.2 percent, touching a record high in Tokyo after the Nikkei reported it will invest more than 300 billion yen ($2.7 billion) to upgrade and expand the resort with new attractions that will open by 2023.

Oriental Land licenses the rights from Walt Disney Co. to operate the Tokyo resort that includes Disneyland, DisneySea, hotels and shopping malls. The Japanese company is in talks with the Burbank, California-based entertainment giant on the expansion, which may include an area dedicated to Disney’s hit movie “Frozen” and other attractions that are not featured at other Disney theme parks, according to the Nikkei.

Oriental Land said in a statement it was not the source of the news reports, and that it continues to consider all options to increase the value of its resort. Walt Disney did not respond to requests for comment.

The report comes as Japan is taking in a record numbers of foreign tourists. Oriental Land expects overseas visitors at its resort to double by 2020 on increased tourism and publicity generated from the newly-opened Disney theme park in Shanghai. Foreign visitors to Japan in 2017 is on track to beat last year’s record 24 million.

Meanwhile, Disney is continuing to expand its parks in Asia. Disney broke ground last year to build a new Toy Story Land attraction area at the Shanghai resort and is currently in the midst of a $1.4 billion expansion of its Hong Kong Disneyland resort.